I hate you! I hate you!
by DarkAngel8
Summary: Reno and Elena hate each others guts. Right? Or maybe not.
1. I hate you!

Elena gazed up at the stars that covered the sky

I hate you! I hate you!

Elena gazed up at the stars that covered the sky. You could see them again now that meteor's red light didn't cause devastating light pollution. Meteor was gone, and so was her world. Her life had crumbled in these past few weeks. Midgar was in crisis; Shinra was struggling to get back on its feet after the decimation of its main headquarters. It had only just reached them that Rufus Shinra was still alive and now they had to report back to the stricken city to help. And most importantly, Tseng was dead, before they could even go out. She missed him a lot and his death made her even more convinced she was going to wind up some old mad woman who lived with fifty cats. She was only twenty-one, but this was still firm in her mind as her fated destiny. 

Something shuffled in the bushes near to them. Sitting up, Elena's eyes darted around. Why did Rude suggest this place to sleep in? And why oh why had Reno said yes? Well that one was easy; Reno was lazy and didn't want to have to go stomping around anymore. She glanced over at her partners in the Turks. Rude, silent, tall, bald and a bit creepy really. Reno, messy, wild, tall, but for all these faults he was a great Turk, better than she knew she would ever be. Still, he looked unhealthily thin to her. The bushes nearby rustled again and she edged closer to her partners. She reached in her pockets and flicked out her dark glasses. The others wore them all the time, Rude always had his eyes covered and Reno used then to hold back his messy hair. 

Those damn bushes were at it again, what was in them for god's sake? She was about to investigate was something leapt out of them. With a small undignified yelp she jumped backwards and tripped over something promptly landing on top of it. The monster, one of the many that haunted this plain, growled at her before running off into the night. With a sigh Elena relaxed.

"Err, Elena? Could you kinda move?"

With a start she realised that what she'd tripped over and was now sat on happened to be her commanding officer, even if it was Reno. With a unceremonious yelp she fell off of him and onto the grass. Looking up at him, for he was now well awake and sitting up, she cried, "What did you do that for?" Grinning at her in a very Reno way he shrugged "Well for some reason I didn't want your heavy backside say on me!" Elena fumed. "Heavy! Just cause I fell over doesn't mean I'm fat!" Reno only leaned back on his slim arms and smirked. "I didn't say 'fat' all I mean is you're a little bulky." "Bulky!" Elena was ready to kill. "Yeah, don't worry though, that suit hides everything. You look completely flat stomached." Elena's rage quelled a little. "And completely flat chested." Elena leapt forward at her prey who promptly moved. "RENO!" she yelled fuming with anger. 

Her cry of rage woke the other sleeping Turk, who as ever regarded them silently and unnoticed. He watched impassively as Elena launched herself at Reno who was laughing at her fury. 

"I'm gonna kill you!" Elena was really going for it. "Oh yeah?" Reno idly spun his nightstick in one hand. 'No, Rude thought, don't be so stupid as to take on Reno, Elena.' But it seemed that actually logical thought was being blocked in Elena's mind as she charged right at the taller red head. With a well known calculating expression on his face Reno swung the nightstick round. Elena's shriek as the electrical charge hit her was nasty, although it probably wasn't serious. Her normally prim suit was a slightly smoking mess and her hair was falling into her eyes. Reno sniggered and sat down leaning against a rock waiting for Elena to scream something. But for once she let it drop, and glared at Reno before rolling over to get some sleep. With a non committal shrug Reno did the same. All Rude could do was grin; the squabbling kids were growing up after all. 

Elena was still mad as she lay down, she hated to admit defeat but if Reno thought he'd gotten away with shocking her like that he had another thought coming. Elena knew many other more devious ways of taking on the man she'd been originally sent to replace. 

………………………………

Elena looked through the lenses of her black glasses as the massive Mako city of Midgar hit the horizon dominating everything. It was weird to think of the metallic mass as home, but home it was, to her and all the Turks. She couldn't see the state of the Shinran building, it was out of sight high up on the upper plate, but the slums looked about the same. Reno and Rude had been quiet for the whole of the journey so far, either not wanting to talk or still annoyed about last night. She knew she was, all this walking had given her enough time to think of some really evil things to do to Reno when they were back. 

She got a better view as they crossed the last few metres to the sector two door, all that seemed wrong were a few pipes had fallen from the top plate. But for all she knew the upper plate was destroyed, she hoped not, her apartment was up there. At the door Reno flicked out a small card with his name and Shinra ID on it and passed by a laser on the door. At once the metal slid open for the Turks to enter Midgar.

………………………………

It wasn't half as bad as she'd expected. Apparently Holy had kept Meteor away from destroying anything more and the damage caused by the Mako cannon was already under repair. About two thirds of Shinra HQ was still in use and that included the Turks offices. The upper floors were completely wasted and teams were scouring them for remains. Rufus had however ordered the deactivation of all Mako reactors under Shinran control and Midgar was running on empty. A man called Reeve, who Rufus seemed to have adopted as his new advisor, had started a project to set up massive solar panels on the dead plains around the city and power was expected to be restored in a week. 

All in all it left Elena with plenty of scheming time to spare. Reno was successfully managing to drive her round the bend. His lack of drive and dedication to his work was a sharp contrast to her eager approach. If only he wasn't such a mess! His hair was always uncontrollable and his uniform was never neatly done up and his collar and cuff buttons just hung loose. And this was the guy that was being appointed as the new head of the Turks after Tseng's death!

Well, at least they had a mission coming up, new orders to complete. They had to flush out some rebels who were trying to sabotage the Solar Flare project as it was being called. Murder and kidnapping was all part of being a Turk. The rebels were rumoured to have set up in the Sector three slums. 

………………………………

Elena ran close on the rebel's heels as he made a dash across the junkyard leading from the rundown shack that was their base. This was why she'd joined the Turks, the thrill. She came close enough to hit the guy hard on the base of his neck before kicking his unconscious form down the junk heap. Turning sharply she headed back to assist Rude with the rebel he was currently fighting. Her arrival was distraction enough as she threw a loose metal sheet at the ragged girl. Rude quickly had her down as she turned to see Elena. The next job was to find Reno and the rebels he'd been chasing. Hauling herself up onto the roof of the ramshackle building Elena saw Reno facing three rebels on a flat area of ground above the piles of junk. Glancing momentarily down at her he motioned for her to block their path of escape. Swiftly she did so as Reno charged taking out two with an powerful electric shock and Elena happily did away with the other as he tried to make an escape. All in all the mission had been highly successful. Rebels taken out with one remaining for questioning by Shinra. 

"Good job girlie" Reno taunted as he jumped down from the mess of metal onto the roof. Elena grimaced as he walked over to the roof's edge to jump down. With a sudden rush of anger she lunged forward pushing him hard from behind. With a yelp Reno fell off the roof and hit the ground below. Elena could help but giggle as he pulled himself upright and Rude was laughing openly. His clothes were covered in dust and he glared angrily at Elena with his Mako eyes.

"Got ya Reno" Elena said composing herself. All Reno could do was toss his hair back over his shoulder and take off his dust covered jacket. Elena's eyes widened as she saw a fresh blood stain on the back of the white shirt near Reno's shoulder blade. "Reno! What the hell's that on your back?" With an annoyed moan Reno looked at his blood stained fingertips gained from the bloody cloth. "Fucking hell, alright I'm gonna go back to Shinra and get this cleared up. You two go home already." Flinging his coat over his shoulder he walked off into the ever lasting Midgar night. "Rude!" Elena wailed "You can't just let him go off injured like that! I'm sure there's a rule!" Behind his glasses Rude rolled his eyes. Being with Elena when she didn't have Reno around to distract her was like being with a five year old. "If Reno says I can go I'm as good as gone okay?" Elena scowled. "Yeah, right off to the nearest bar." Rude smiled at the irked girl. "No big deal Lena, cool off already." "You sound like Reno! Could you take this seriously for five minutes!" Rude shook his head and gave Elena a nod before heading of to the near bar round these parts. Elena just stood there pouting. Nobody paid her any attention, well she was going to follow orders at least. 

Reno winced as a bolt of pain shot through his shoulder. One of the rebels must have cut it when he wasn't watching. The adrenaline must have originally masked the pain, now it was really killing him. 

"Hey mate. Now why don't you fork over yer gil?" 

Reno sighed, he supposed he'd been asking for this really. Injured but in a suit, a perfect target for the many lowlife scum of the slums. He turned to see a rather disgusting rag clad knife wielding mugger leering at him. Forcing himself upright despite the pain Reno used his height to stare down at the lowlife. "Do you even have the faintest idea what I am?" he questioned in a very cynical tone. "Nah, and as long as I get yer gil I don't give a damn." The mugger grinned at Reno displaying a set of rotting yellow teeth. Reno was well aware he looked a mess, with a bloodstain on his ragged shirt and his jacket covered in dust thanks to Elena he wasn't exactly intimidating. But intimidating wasn't part of Reno's personality. "I'm a Turk" he told the mugger. "Yeah right mate, none of them come down ere, besides if yer were I'd be dead right nah." Reno knew that if this guy did try to fight him that the battle would be hard going on himself. His right arm was almost completely useless thanks to the gash on his shoulder. "Get lost" he snapped at the scum holding his nightstick loosely in his left hand. The mugger sneered and charged straight at Reno swinging the knife forwards, except he never reached him. 

"You would have thought you could take care of yourself Reno" Elena's voice drifted over from the right. 

Elena took in Reno's current state. He looked a lot worse than before. Obviously the wound was more serious than she'd anticipated. With his dirty clothes and unstable frame he looked a lot like the weirdo's you met around here. "Elena?" he questioned of her. "Yeah it's me lazy." She shoved away his arm and took his full weight for him. Putting her arm around his waist she realised he really was very thin compared to Rude. Probably cause he didn't eat enough or get enough sleep. Most people did stuff like that cause of stress, Reno did it by choice. With a sigh she headed off in the direction of Shinra helping a now barely awake Reno to walk. She knew she was getting his blood all over the side of her neat uniform. Reno was infuriating, even when he was just conscious he was annoying her in some way. Tseng would never do anything like that, but Tseng was dead. 

Reno's red hair was falling in his eyes, with a flick of her wrist Elena moved them. That was another thing, did he even know the meaning of the word hairbrush? Elena spent most of the way back to Shinra listing all the bad things about Reno she could come up with. Eventually she managed to get to Shinra medical. Her irritation was only amplified by the half-hour she was forced to spend waiting. When Reno did emerge she saw the bandages under his lose shirt and could only think that he deserved them. The shirt was still stained with the same blood that now damaged hers. "Err, thanks Lena" Reno muttered looking uncomfortable. "I only did it cause of the regs you know" Elena snapped still annoyed. "Yeah well thanks for nothing than" Reno snapped back. "Oh yeah!" Elena shouted, the beginnings of a full scale argument loomed, but before Reno could reply the nurse hastily interjected. "Um, Miss, he's still not healed, so could you sort of see him home?" This suggestion irked Elena, but not half as much as the face Reno pulled when he realised he'd have to spend more time in her company. "Sure, I'll take the lazy jerk home" she told the nurse who scurried away afterwards. Spinning on her heels she turned to face Reno. Looking up at him with a expression of deep distaste she nodded in the direction of the door. 

"So", Elena asked when they were back outside, "Where do you live?" Reno shrugged "Sector Six". Elena spun. "Six! That's ages away! I'm not walking over there!" Reno scowled at her, "Good, I'll go alone." Elena snorted, "Oh no you bloody well won't." 

"Well, I don't see I have any other choice do you oh mighty one?"

"One."

"Oh yes? And what horrible suggestion has your brain spawned?"

"You spend the night at my place."

Reno gagged. "There's no way in hell!"

"Oh yes? I've heard you've spent the night at other female employee's homes."

"That's different. They aren't _you_."

"Oh yeah! Well you don't have any other option!"

With a grimace Reno silently nodded his approval. Elena smirked to herself. She'd got one over Reno; this was a day to remember. Grabbing his arm, and quickly grabbing the other one when she heard his cry of pain Elena half dragged Reno into Sector One, here on the upper plate it was quite nice. Her apartment was thankfully not to far and they soon arrived. As soon as Elena had fumbled around with the key and opened the door she roughly shoved Reno inside.

………………………………

Okay. In the next chapter Elena and Reno have to cope with each other for a whole night. Will they engage in (ahem) certain activities to occupy their time?

Well you'll just have read it won't you! 

And Read and Review cause it just takes a second and if you don't I hope you get a guilt trip. 

-Darkie (I wrote this so nah!) 

And I took the title from 'Buffy' it's the last thing Xander and Cordelia say before they kiss for the first time. 


	2. I hate you even more!

With a bang Elena slammed the door of her Shinran apartment

Okay people! I've tried to straighten up the whole paragraph thing in this one. 

I hate you even more

With a bang Elena slammed the door of her Shinran apartment. This was all she needed. As well as having to but up with the ever infuriating Reno at work, she was going to have to put up with him here too. This was all she needed for one major sized headache.

"So this is where the suck up loudmouth Elena lives is it?" Reno's tone was mocking; he was going to drive her up the wall.

"Yes it is, and now it must suffer the lazy slack off Reno." Elena spat back. He was going to get a run for his money is she had any say.

"Well, I'm just surprised." The tone was still sarcastic.

"About what?" Despite the apparently harmless statement she was suspicious.

"Where are all the pictures of Tseng plastered to the wall?"

"Oh shut up Reno! What's he got to do with me!" He had definitely touched a nerve.

"Oh come on! Everyone knows that you had the biggest crush on him!" Reno was smirking now. She really wanted to wrap her hands around his scrawny neck. 

"Well at least I don't flirt with every member of the opposite sex!" 

"It's not like they'd want you to anyway."

"Are you saying I'm not attractive?!" 

"No, you're very attractive." 

Elena felt something inside twist. Reno of the Turks, the world's biggest jerk, technically her superior, had just admitted she was attractive? And most importantly, why the hell did she care?! 

"To a pig or donkey." 

This single comment unleashed a wave of fury in Elena. "How dare you!"

Reno shrugged. "It's easy, I just open my mouth and the insults spill out."

"Well then maybe you should try shutting your mouth once or twice!"

"Bit of a hypocrite aren't you? Who was it who as good as told Avalanche our plans?" 

"Big mouth or no I got into the Turks didn't I?"

"They only let you in cause they needed another member, you would never have made it otherwise, and you know it."

"And the only reason they needed another member was because you went and got yourself injured!"

"Exactly! You're just a half rate replacement for me!"

Elena felt that old self-doubt start to resurface deep inside her. Leave it to Reno to dredge that up again. 

"Just shut up you jerk!"

Either he saw the true hurt in her voice or had gotten tired of the argument because he, for once, did as he was told. Elena could only fume in silence as Reno gave her living space a brief inspection. 

"Well, apart from the lack of a Tseng shrine quite a decent place Elena." He grinned at her knowing that his sudden change from argumentative to polite would annoy her even more. It did. Elena really hated that about Reno, the way nothing he said could be predicted. His tones almost never fitted his mood and it was hard to tell if he was just very laid back or sarcastic. 

"I'm so glad you approve Reno. Now I can breathe again."

"Please, don't do anything like that."

"Funny" Elena muttered as she walked into her small kitchen. Fishing around in her fridge she managed to retrieve a frozen pizza. Happily stuffing it in the small microwave she walked back into her living room. Reno was sat on her small sofa with his eyes closed, lying on the floor discarded lay his electro rod nightstick. Her mind drifted back to the time on the plain when he'd shocked her. She could almost taste the sweet taste of revenge as she reached out and picked up Reno's weapon. It was surprisingly heavy, well not that surprising if you took into account the amount of technology inside. Running her hand down the thin outer casing a small pressure sensitive switch caused the technology to come online and a small spark of power crackled. Grinning Elena held out the stolen weapon towards its resting owner. She drifted the electro rod along till its dangerous surface was just inches away from Reno's bare neck. 'He's gonna wish he bothered to do his collar up after this' thought Elena wickedly. She hovered the electric charge above the typical sunless Midgar pale skin and with a rush of sadistic vengeful pleasure slammed it into the side of Reno's neck. 

With a yelp the Turk leapt up his hand flying to the side of his neck. A definite red mark burned there. "You bitch!" Reno was furious his tied back red hair seemed for once to make him seem dangerously angry. 

"You did it to me!" 

"Not on your fucking skin! Do you know how much that hurts! For all you know it could have been on max level!" 

Elena wasn't used to seeing Reno annoyed, and now he was completely livid. This was a new non-laid back over emotional version, it was creepy. 

"Oh well! If you're going to leave something this dangerous lying around I'd better confiscate it!"

Grinning at the replacement of anger by confusion on his face. Elena twirled the weapon idly in her hand before turning and running into the next room. Slamming the door behind her she looked around. It was her bedroom and a small chair was stood on the clean hardwood floor. She promptly scooped it up and stuck it under the handle. She didn't know how long that would hold him out but long enough for her to enjoy his fury. Elena's mind was abuzz. She didn't really know why she liked torturing Reno, but he retaliated just as badly so she figured they were fairly even. 

The door was going to give way soon and she saw the chair start to slip. Her eyes shot over to the clock on her wall, it was night apparently, Midgar was always black. Well, she still had to contend a whole night in his company, and this was not going to make him a good companion. But she wasn't giving up without a fight. Jumping onto her bed to gain height over Reno she held the nightstick up as high as she could. Apparently being childish was what the Turks were all about. 

Reno entered the room at a run and nearly slipped over on the polished floor. His old demeanour seemed to have returned and he flashed Elena a sarcastic smile. His hair was falling over his shades into his eyes and he looked even more ruffled than normal. 

"A little old to be playing games aren't we Elena?" 

"From what I've seen you're only physically to old."

"Calling me immature are you? I'm not the one who stole someone else's toy."

"A toy hmm? Seems a lot like a weapon to me. Oh well you won't care if I just throw it out the window…" 

With another grin Reno charged straight at her. Leaping up next to her he swiped at his weapon still in her hand. Now standing up properly he could simply take it from her. Reaching out he seemed about to do so when a loud crashing noise was heard. The whole building seemed to shake, and neither Reno nor Elena, who weren't standing on the most secure footing anyway, could keep standing. Both of them fell. 

Elena heard the crash and felt her footing start to slip. Fortunately she landed on her soft bed, but something heavy landed on top of her. With a muffled cry she realised it was Reno.

"What was that ?" Reno looked up. "It was almost like an earthquake."

Elena shook her head. "Midgar isn't anywhere near a fault line." 

Reno bit his lower lip in thought. Elena had a very good view of his face. It was only a few inches away. But she seemed to be the only one to have noticed this little detail. 

"The whole of upper Midgar is supported in seven small segment plates, If one gave way slightly…"

Elena's eyes widened. "We should report to Shinra Headquarters!"

Reno shook his head. "In this situation what use would the Turks be? We'll probably be used later."

"For what?"

"If this is the result of rebel's planning against the Solar Flare project I imagine we'll be the ones to hunt them down." 

"You sound almost hopeful."

"Did I mention my shoulder really hurts?"

"No."

Elena was really uncomfortable. Well, not technically, she was uncomfortable with the way she was feeling, which was anything but uncomfortable. 

"Well it bloody well does and whoever sent those jerks to do it are gonna pay."

Elena nodded, it was pretty much all she could handle right now. Although for some reason he seemed completely oblivious to the fact Reno was lying on to of her. And it was killing her. She didn't understand it, she hated him, and he was a massive evil nasty jerk. So why the hell was she feeling like this? His entire weight was against her and his body was pressed against hers. She could even feel the body heat. Elena took a brief moment to curse all hormones. 

"Does it hurt?" she managed to get the words out calmly. 

"Yeah, stings, I still have no idea how it happened."

"Hmm."

Elena didn't seem to be in control of Elena's actions. Slowly she reached out and laid her hand on Reno shoulder. She could feel anything through the fabric of his shirt and blue jacket. Taking a deep breath she brought her hand back and lifted it towards his neck. For the first time ever she was glad that he never did his collar up. Slowly, keeping her eyes locked on his she slid her hand under his shirt. Steadily she slid her hand over his smooth skin until her hand rested on the wound on his shoulder. She saw him flinch slightly and lightened the weight. 

"How bad do you think it is?"

Judging by the almost shocked look in his eyes he finally seemed to have realised their exact positioning. 

"It's not that bad, it just took a load of energy out of me." He spoke the words almost under his breath. As the words were spoken he moved up slightly so their faces were exactly level. 

Elena felt another twist inside as Reno moved against her. Did he even know how badly he was affecting her? 

"Tired huh?" she whispered back.

"What?" 

Elena almost smiled. This one little sentence was going to take a lot of confidence. 

"So, exactly how tired are you?"

He smiled softly and made a sudden movement to kiss her. She moved her hand from his shoulder and wrapped both arms around his waist. One under his clothes the other on top. She leaned up slightly to meet him. The kiss was short, brief, and as they pulled apart Elena smiled back. 

"I hate you."

"I hate you even more." 

This time she grabbed his head and brought it down into a far more passionate kiss…

…………….

Woe betide you if you can't guess what happened. There will be another chapter. I just need to find my muse, catch it, and force it to work overtime. 


End file.
